Talk:Contemporary Age
Spain on maps. A geographic synopsis
Compendium of the National Atlas of Spain. New content
Thematic structure > History > Historical overview > Contemporary Age
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Independence, liberalism and revolution
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The population increased and exceeded ten million inhabitants in the 18th century, but changes in the territorial distribution took place. The inland areas, except for Madrid, suffered continuous negative rates for more than a century (The Urban World and Population Density at the late 18th Century map and Population and Population Density in the First Third of the 19th Century maps) while the outskirts were thriving: Gijón, Ferrol, Vigo, Cartagena, Jerez de la Frontera, San Fernando, etc. This was possible thanks to the progress in medicine, hygiene, increased agricultural production, new towns founded by the State, the arrival of technicians and foreign residents, the creation of industries, among other reasons.
The Spanish War of Independence, the Carlist War and the continuous guerrillas, absolutist or liberal, reinforced the demographic blow, either due to deaths (500,000? 1808-1814) or to those exiled; some for their Francophile progressivism (the afrancesados, like Goya), others for their liberal activism. Also due to the plagues from 1800, 1814, 1833. In 1833, the country reached 12,162,000 inhabitants, which still meant a very weak density: just 1,636 inhabitants per square mile, as opposed to 4,659 inhabitants in the Netherlands, 3,875 in the United Kingdom, 3,085 in France or 1,815 in Portugal. With the provincial reorganisation by Javier de Burgos (1833), the new provincial capitals grew, as well as the mining areas, such as Asturias and Ciudad Real. The inland rural exodus expanded towards the industrial areas, which developed on the outskirts, and to the cities of the Basque Country (Biscay), Catalonia (Barcelona) and Madrid. Thus, a bourgeoisie of civil servants, industrialists and merchants emerged, who supported great urban projects: districts such as Ensanche in Barcelona (Cerdà Plan, imposed by the central government) and Salamanca district, in Madrid.
The war against Napoleon, who came to Spain to place his brother on the throne in Madrid (The Spanish War of Independence map, also known as Peninsular War), brought the emergence of the first Constitution of Spain, in a besieged, progressive and liberal Cádiz. It also led to the appearance of guerrillas (a term that was made universal) against the French invader, in favour either of the absolutist king or of the liberals. The guerrillas from one side or the other continued until the mid-twenties, according to the ruling ideology. In the thirties, Infante Don Carlos, who supported a monarchy that was absolutist, foralista and with a male sucession line, refused to accept his niece Isabella as the Queen. His reluctance was even increased because she was beign supported by de liberals. He proclaimed himself King (Charles V). A long and cruel seven years war started (The Great Carlist War map). The Convention of Bergara that ended it, started a liberal and two-party monarchy in Spain. There would be two other Carlist wars, in 1846-1849 and 1872-1876, and many attempts in 1855, 1860, 1869 and 1870.
In 1853 the prohibition of emigrating to America was lifted (Emigration in the 19th Century map). Cuba, still Spanish, attracted the Catalan emigration. Later on, the emigration was directed to Mexico, Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina. Between 1853 and 1882, there was a high Galician emigration rate (325,000, 60% of the total), and afterwards of Canarians, Asturians and Basques. The population of the Mediterranean and Balearic coastline headed for Morocco or Algeria (about 114,000, most of all, to Oran) and of the Northeast Peninsula to Europe.
Co-authorship of the text in Spanish: María Sánchez Agustí, José Antonio Álvarez Castrillón, Mercedes de la Calle Carracedo, Daniel Galván Desvaux, Joaquín García Andrés, Isidoro González Gallego, Montserrat León Guerrero, Esther López Torres, Carlos Lozano Ruiz, Ignacio Martín Jiménez, Rosendo Martínez Rodríguez, Rafael de Miguel González.. See the list of members engaged
The Ecclesiastical Confiscations
The objective of the ecclesiastical confiscations, known as desamortizaciones, was the nationalisation of all the assets (buildings, land, works of art, books, etc.) from the so-called manos muertas, most of which were property of the religious communities, except for the educational and health care ones. There were precedents: assets belonging to the expelled Jesuits, some attempts by Godoy, the assets confiscation to the liberals and the Francophiles, or the nationalisation of the Inquisition property and of the military orders, decreed by the Cortes de Cádiz.
The ecclesiastical confiscation of Juan Álvarez Mendizábal, who was the progressivist Treasury Minister during the regency of María Cristina, started in 1835. The goods from religious orders were confiscated and sold to the highest bidder to pay off public debt, finance the Carlist War and create an agrarian middle class with the peasants, who would then purchase the cultivated land. He also wanted to get supporters for liberal ideas and persuade the Carlist War towards the child Queen, apart from promoting the agrarian production and its trade. Between 1836 and 1837, 3,600 millions of reales (Spanish currency) were raised (Ecclesiastical Confiscations of Mendizabal map).
The execution of the Mendizábal confiscation decrees was paralysed during the moderate decade (1844-1854, Narváez government). However, Pascual Madoz, Treasury Minister during the progressive biennium (1855-1856, government of Espartero), reactivated them with more intensity: he applied them not only for the confiscation of church property, such as in the first confiscation, but also for the communal properties from the municipalities and the ones from the State itself (Ecclesiastical Confiscations of Madoz map). They were aimed at financing railway works, promoting agrarian production and modernising the countryside.
In general, the peasants were unable to buy the confiscated land, which fell into the hands of, either the former owners (through figureheads) or the wealthy urban bourgeoisie, transformed into the landlord's bourgeoisie. On the other hand, many municipalities remained without rents and had to increase the tax burden. It is relevant to point out that provincial museums were created with the works of art, and monastic libraries were transferred to the newly created provincial secondary schools and to some universities.
Co-authorship of the text in Spanish: María Sánchez Agustí, José Antonio Álvarez Castrillón, Mercedes de la Calle Carracedo, Daniel Galván Desvaux, Joaquín García Andrés, Isidoro González Gallego, Montserrat León Guerrero, Esther López Torres, Carlos Lozano Ruiz, Ignacio Martín Jiménez, Rosendo Martínez Rodríguez, Rafael de Miguel González.. See the list of members engaged
The Bourbon Restauration
| 1874 | Generals Martínez Campos and Pavía ends the First Republic. Dictatorship of General Serrano |
| 1874-1885 | Reign of Alfonso XII |
| 1881 | Start of the “English-style” Governments with alternation between Cánovas del Castillo (Conservatives) and Práxedes Mateo Sagasta (Liberal Progressives) |
| 1885-1902 | Regency of María Cristina of Habsburgo, pregnant with the heir to the throne |
| 1885 | The Pardo pact officially ratifies the party alternation system |
| 1897 | Cánovas is assassinated |
| 1898 | Spanish-American War: Spain loses Cuba, Puerto Rico and Philippines: "the Disaster of 1898" |
The restauration paved the way for a period of socioeconomic stabilisation, of consolidation of the goals achieved during the Elizabethan period and the creation of new ones.
The offer of agricultural land, because of the confiscations, increased the cultivated land surface, the agricultural production and consumption. Until 1882, the economic agricultural conditions facilitated the inland cereal production. The Crimean War and the subsequent conflicts in Eastern Europe facilitated exports, to the extent that there was an emergence of a flour milling bourgeoisie in the two Castile regions, whose motto was: “Water, sun and war in Sebastopol”.
Nevertheless, from that moment cereal imports started, favoured by the railway and a very benign climate that increased production. As a result, prices decreased and the countryside, once again, went into crisis and a new cycle began of rural exodus to the large industrial cities.
The cotton shortage due to the North American Secession War (1861-1885) contributed to the decline of the old textile industry, which gave way to metallurgic and steel factories. As iron needed coal as a source of energy, those places that catered for both (Ojén, Málaga, 1826), initiated the heavy industry process. But due to mining fatigue, this activity was moved to other regions such as Asturias (1864) and the Basque Country (1876), where a fruitful exchange of iron and coal with Cardiff was established.
At the end of the 19th century, 70% of the national production of iron was located in the Basque Country, so Spain became the main iron supplier for the rest of Europe. There was a huge increase in production from 43,000 tons of iron ingots, 37,000 tons of soft iron and steel, which were produced in 1868, to 310,000 and 190,000 tons, respectively manufactured in 1900.
The iron exploitation was important for the railway expansion. The benefits from the Madoz confiscation decrees and a series of laws that promoted its financing, such as the Ley General de Ferrocarriles de 1855 (General Railway Act), which attracted foreign capital, contributed to it (French capital in the Northern rails and British in the Sourthern ones). The first railway in the Iberian Peninsula was the Barcelona-Mataró line in 1848, followed by the Madrid-Aranjuez one in 1851. In 10 years (1856-1866) 460 km were built per year, reaching 5,000 km. In a second 23-year-stage, (1873-1896) it reached 12,000 km. The 20th century started with 15,000-km-railway lines, some of which were international: Madrid-Lisbon (1881) and Lisbon-Madrid-Paris (1887).
Co-authorship of the text in Spanish: María Sánchez Agustí, José Antonio Álvarez Castrillón, Mercedes de la Calle Carracedo, Daniel Galván Desvaux, Joaquín García Andrés, Isidoro González Gallego, Montserrat León Guerrero, Esther López Torres, Carlos Lozano Ruiz, Ignacio Martín Jiménez, Rosendo Martínez Rodríguez, Rafael de Miguel González.. See the list of members engaged
Restauration crisis and first dictatorship
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Reign of Alfonso XIII (1902 - 1931)
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Alfonso XIII assumed full authority as king on his 16th birthday, among a general historical pessimism provoked by the Desastre del 98 (98 Disaster), that marked the Generation of 1898.
Foreign colonial companies owned the raw materials (Large Foreign Corporations map). Germans, Belgians and French had the mining concessions and the English controlled more than 50% of the foreign capital in many industries: forestry (cork), food (Suchard), and, of course, mining (Riotinto). From 1868 onwards (Mining Law), the State had improved its commitment with them. Zinc, copper, mercury and lead were extracted.
The Spanish capital, with exceptions, such as the Marquis of Salamanca years before, settled for its agricultural latifundia (The Large Rural Property map). Despite that, the agri-food industry sector was emerging timidly. The unresolved agricultural issue (66% of the active population) with a high number of jornaleros (landless day labourers), temporary unemployed and mostly illiterate, caused the appearance of the revolutionary agricultural labour unions.
The social issues also remained unresolved. In 1916 there were 237 strikes; in 1920 more than 1,000. The repression of the 1917 Spanish general strike (Strikes and Social Conflicts map) left dozens of deaths and thousands arrested.
Under the Primo de Rivera dictatorship there was a decrease in conflict due to the big public works and the collaboration of the General Union of Workers (Unión General de Trabajadores, UGT). But the situation blew up again in 1929. The National Confederation of Labour (Confederación Nacional del Trabajo, CNT) reached 700,000 affiliates during that year, and in the first years of the Republic, the UGT doubled that number. In Andalusia the peasants alliances exceeded 100,000 affiliates on the strike of 1934, wich anticipated the general revolutionary strike (Affiliation to National Confederation of Labour and Affiliation to the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party maps).
Co-authorship of the text in Spanish: María Sánchez Agustí, José Antonio Álvarez Castrillón, Mercedes de la Calle Carracedo, Daniel Galván Desvaux, Joaquín García Andrés, Isidoro González Gallego, Montserrat León Guerrero, Esther López Torres, Carlos Lozano Ruiz, Ignacio Martín Jiménez, Rosendo Martínez Rodríguez, Rafael de Miguel González.. See the list of members engaged
The Republic, the Civil War and Franco’s Dictatorship
| 14/04/1931 | Proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic |
| 1931 | The new Republican Constitution grants voting rights for women |
| 1931-1933 | Progressive Biennial that faces a large reform plan |
| 1933-1935 | Conservative Biennial, revisionist of such reforms |
| 1934 | Revolutionary General Strike. The Asturias Revolution |
| 1936 | Triumph of the Popular Front in the Spanish General Elections |
| 1936-1939 | Military Uprising and Civil War |
| 01/04/1939 | End of the Second Republic. Victory of the Military Uprising |
The republican parties had sworn allegiance to bring the republic through the Pact of San Sebastián (1930), as a consequence of the disrepute of the Monarchy. And they took advantage of the municipal elections in 1931 because, although the monarchists got more municipal councillors, the vote in the big cities was republican. Many people took to the streets and Alfonso XIII, abandoned by everybody, stopped his royal functions and left «Spain…the sole lady of its own destiny».
The Republic faced all the problems simultaneously: agricultural, social, religious, military and territorial issues. In the meantime, a Constitution was elaborated in the middle of the Great Depression of 1929. All “these issues” were intended to be resolved, but how? Some wanted a bourgeois republic with reforms, but gradual and prolonged throughout time; others wanted radical political action that could even become revolutionary. The Second Republic emerged with great difficulties so that “the two Spains” could fit into it. Therefore, the Pact of San Sebastián was broken and not only the radicals but the liberal right also got out of the first Government.
In May 1931, more than 100 convents were set on fire. The following year there was an anarchist revolutionary attempt, a monarchist uprising and even a failed coup d’état by General Sanjurjo. And while the Agrarian Reform, the army reorganisation, the generalisation of the education and the regional planning was faced by the Republican Courts, the strikes and revolts continued, resulting in a tough response with 25 deaths in the anarchist Casas Viejas uprising. The society was not ready for with some decisions: the divorce law, the recognition of the Soviet Union; others, like the expulsion of the Jesuits, seemed exaggerated. And some raised powerful enemies against the Republic, such as the agrarian reform or the one of the army.
| 1939-1975 | Dictatorship of General Franco, Head of the Government and of the State |
| 1939-1950/1953 | Post-war situation. Autarchy and international isolation |
| 1959 | Economic Stabilization Plan |
| 1973 | Admiral Carrero Blanco is assassinated by ETA Terrorist Group |
| 1975 | The Dictator dies |
In 1933 the right-wing party won the elections (while Hitler came to power in Germany), the reforms were stopped and the PSOE attempted a general revolutionary action in October 1934 (1,800-2,000 deaths across Spain), with victory only in Asturias. The Sacred Chamber of the Cathedral of Oviedo was blown up and the University was set on fire (its old library was lost) amid looting and killings. The Republic sent the Legión and also the Army of Africa to Asturias, which acted with similar violence. During 1935 both Spains were prepared to settle their confrontation in the general elections held in February of 1936. There was a triumph of the Popular Front, and in July a great part of the army took up arms, led by General Franco.
The rebellion only won in some parts of Spain. But the audacity and discipline of the rebels and the rulers’ indecision, who would rather arm the civil people than lean on the rest of the army, whose loyalty they doubted, derived into a civil war that would last until 1939. There were moments with as much violence at the rear as on the front-line.
Once the war was over, General Franco established a personal military dictatorship, of a National Catholic nature, amidst violent repression.
In its first years, given its international isolation, the dictatorship tried to govern autarchically and with the expected territorial actions: great public works without the possibility of resistance from those affected (entire villages were moved), such as the construction of more than 500 dams. In the meantime, land plots concentration plans, colonisation of new villages, and construction of grain storage networks (the silos), were promoted while the great property remained untouchable.The project known as Plan Badajoz was relevant, with thousands of people being resettled.
From 1959 onwards, (the isolation had already stopped due to the cold war), technocratic programs were implemented (the Development Plans) with industrial parks and estates throughout the country. Undoubtedly there was economic progress, urban middle classes were created in large numbers and the active agrarian population decreased by 10% due to emigration to industrial areas. Spain was considered the tenth world economic power for a few years. But in 1975 nobody wanted to continue with a dictatorship and the country returned to a democratic system.
Co-authorship of the text in Spanish: María Sánchez Agustí, José Antonio Álvarez Castrillón, Mercedes de la Calle Carracedo, Daniel Galván Desvaux, Joaquín García Andrés, Isidoro González Gallego, Montserrat León Guerrero, Esther López Torres, Carlos Lozano Ruiz, Ignacio Martín Jiménez, Rosendo Martínez Rodríguez, Rafael de Miguel González.. See the list of members engaged
The Arrival of Democracy
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The transition (1975-1981)
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Once the dictator had died, the process known as “transition” began, which paved the way to a Western parliamentary democracy in Spain. The rulers he had appointed, trusting that the Francoist militarism would be perpetuated, understood that it was a senseless anachronism and the anti-Francoist rulers (from the exile or in captivity) coincided in the need to lead the country towards its identification with Europe; it was necessary to assume waivers from both sides.
It could be said that the transition emerged in 1976 (Referendum on Political Reform map), culminated in 1978 (Constitution approval), consolidated in 1979 (Municipal Elections of 1979. Leftist Victory in Provincial Capitals map) and with the disappearance of the secular military leadership after the failed coup d’état led by Tejero, became a milestone. The Socialist Party came to power and Spain became a member of NATO and the European Community. But why is it said that it emerged? The historians study how, under the tense Francoist surface, since the end of the sixties, Spain had developed a confluence of social, economic or cultural “transitions”, from which the political transition, once the dictator had died, was the inexorable end. The country was leaving behind the bipolar social division, which the old politicians –unable to overcome it– preferred to agitate. Now, in contrast, the new politics were building a free democracy for everyone. And Spain stands itself in front of its own history, 500 years after 1492, as a united nation, free from grudges, transparent, powerful and open to the world. The current Spanish generations will thus know, with the faithful memory of a former divisive past, how to effectively face the 21st century.
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Abdication of Juan Carlos I
With the vote of the Ley Orgánica 3/2014 in the Congress, the abdication of King Juan Carlos I became effective. It was presented by the Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who pointed out that the King abdicated “in favour of his successor Felipe de Borbón y Grecia, called to become King of Spain, just after the effective date of this law”. Some Congress representatives pointed out that “a new Head of State would be elected”; others voted “no”, highlighting their decision “for the republic”, “for the Catalonian republic” or “for the democracy”. |
Spain today, a European democracy (1981-2022)
| Febuary 1981 | Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo is elected Prime Minister of Spain |
| May 1982 | Spain joins NATO |
| December 1982 | Felipe González is elected Prime Minister of Spain, position that he maintains until May 1996 |
| June 1985 | Spain signs the Treaty of Accession to the European Economic Community |
| June 1986 | ETA undertakes the major terrorist attack at the Hipercor supermarket in Barcelona: 21 deaths and 45 injured |
| January 1988 | Signature of the Pacto de Ajuria Enea to eradicate terrorism |
| April 1992 | Opening of the Seville World Expo |
| July 1992 | Opening of the Olympic Games in Barcelona |
| March 1995 | Approval of the Statutes of the Autonomous Cities of Ceuta and Melilla |
| April 1996 | Pacto del Majestic: The PP receives the CIU party support to form a government and act during all the Legislature |
| May 1996 | José María Aznar is elected Prime Minister of Spain |
| May 1996 | Strong budgetary adjustments are announced |
| January 1999 | The unique Euro currency comes into force, which will be in circulation since January 2002 |
| March 2004 | Terrorist attack on 11-M in Madrid by an Islamist group, three days before the General Elections: 191 deaths and more than 2,000 injured people |
| April 2004 | José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is elected Prime Minister of Spain |
| March 2006 | Approval of a New Catalonia Statute |
| October 2006 | The GDP increases by 4% and the unemployment rate remains at 8.10% |
| April 2007 | The real state bubble blows. Start of the Great Recession |
| December 2007 | Ley de la Memoria Histórica is passed |
| May 2010 | Budget Cuts Plan, Labour and Pension System Reforms |
| October 2011 | ETA announces the definitive end of the armed activity |
| December 2011 | Mariano Rajoy is elected Prime Minister of Spain. The Government announces a tough economic plan |
| June 2012 | Spain gets a 100-billion-euro bank bailout from the European Union |
| June 2014 | Abdication of the King Juan Carlos I and proclamation of the King Felipe VI |
| July 2014 | Economic recovery and decrease of the unemployment rate in more than 400,000 people |
| June 2018 | First no-confidence motion accepted in democracy, presented by Pedro Sanchez against Mariano Rajoy |
| December 2018 | Pedro Sánchez is elected Prime Minister of Spain |
| January 2020 | PSOE-Unidas Podemos coalition Government |
| March 2020 | The COVID-19 outbreak starts. The Government declares two consecutive States of Alarm |
| February 2022 | Russia invades Ukraine An energy crisis starts in Europe |
| June 2022 | NATO Summit in Madrid |
Co-authorship of the text in Spanish: María Sánchez Agustí, José Antonio Álvarez Castrillón, Mercedes de la Calle Carracedo, Daniel Galván Desvaux, Joaquín García Andrés, Isidoro González Gallego, Montserrat León Guerrero, Esther López Torres, Carlos Lozano Ruiz, Ignacio Martín Jiménez, Rosendo Martínez Rodríguez, Rafael de Miguel González.. See the list of members engaged
You can download the complete publication Spain on maps. A geographic synopsis in Libros Digitales del ANE site.
